EcoWorldly

Note: this article is part of this week’s EcoWorldly cycling series: Cycling and its importance in countries around the world.

Despite more evidence that cycling is universally good, this time in the form of a report showing that it saves the government $227.2 million in annual health costs, there is still no denying there is just one king on the Australian roads—the car!

The fact that the bureaucrats actually have to commission a report into the health benefits of cycling probably tells you exactly what you need to know about the way that Australian governments treat the activity. Does any one really doubt that cycling is healthy? And what do they intend to do with this number now that hey have it?

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Just for the record the report found that that cycling currently saves the government $227.2 million per year in health costs. The report is called Cycling: Getting Australia Moving and was written by academics from several leading Australian universities on behalf of the Federal Department of Health and Ageing.

Of course the figure does not take into account any number of other benefits that cycling has to offer.

It is pretty clear in this country, despite the exception of a few local councils that do go out of their way to encourage cycling, that governments are at the mercy of the car driving public when it comes to setting policy. Cyclists are a very distant second.

Any space that is eked out by cyclist on established roads, normally achieved by cycling within a hand reach of cars, is given only begrudgingly by governments and drivers.

On new roads forget it! A rash of private toll ways have sprung up across Sydney in the last decade and all have been funded by the public purse to some degree, but most are off limits to cyclists.

In the planning phase for new toll ways it is not uncommon to see cycle lanes lauded as a bonus, only to see them scrapped by the time the new motorway is built.

Sure there have been the creation of some cycle ways away from main roads but these are more for the benefit of recreational or weekend cyclists and don’t infringe on many major transport routes.

Where they do feature on new infrastructure, cycle paths invariably come to an end at a very dangerous intersection teeming with traffic. So after enjoying clear riding cyclist are then herded into some of the most dangerous traffic spots. These are avoidable only if the cyclists skips the cycle way and makes their own route.

In short planning for cyclists is something often talked about by rarely implemented in a cohesive or meaningful way, particularly in Sydney where its benefits are most needed.

The fact that getting more people on bikes is better for the city as a whole, and better for those who remain in their cars, seems to be a point missed by drivers. They should be supporting measure to encourage cycling but rarely do.

It must be jealousy. As driving becomes more and more expensive the calls just increase for some sort of charge to be applied to cyclists, normally in the form of registration. This would be public policy at its worst. Do cyclists drive up fuel prices? Do cyclists need ever more roads and the infrastructure spending that goes with it? I think not.

One of my favorite examples of the sodden thinking of most car drivers comes from a newspaper columnist who complained loudly that he often had to overtake the same cyclist twice on his way to work. They get in the way he argued. But of course the only way he could overtake the cyclist twice was if his average speed was actually less than the cyclist!

If anything governments should be offering financial incentive to encourage cycling, perhaps medical benefits in the case of accident are in order.

Not all the news form Australia is bad despite poor government. Big cities have shown increases in bicycle traffic as has the country overall.

But I think this has a lot to do with the success of the country’s top cyclists at events like the Tour de France, where they have had a good profile over the last few years.

I think it also has something to do with the fact that when you ride a bike you get to wear body hugging lira from top to toe… or is that just?

Other Articles in Ecoworldly’s Bicycling Series

• Forget Sky-high Gas Prices, Biking Beats Them All! by Sam Aola Ooko
• UK: Bike Week 2008 by Pem Charnley
• Bicycle powered water pumps and filtration systems by Nayelli Gonzalez
• Italy’s Two-Wheeled Cities Speed Up Your Life Quality by Eva Pratesi
• In Chiang Mai, Social Attitudes Crush Bicycling Prospects by Masimba Biriwasha
• Google’s Sexy Bicycle Giveaways and Africa’s Versatile Bike Trucks by Sam Aola Ooko
• South Korean Bicycle Ninjas Do Battle Against Asthma by Gavin Hudson
• Of Course Cycling in Australia is Healthy, But What To Do With the Cars? by Ross Kendall
• Cheer up! Bicycling in Italy is a Daily Adventure by Eva Pratesi
• If You Want a Blissful Sex Life, Don’t Ride a Bike! by Sam Aola Ooko
• Bicycling in Peru: An Art of Adaptation by Levi Novey

Photo credit: tanakawho via Flickr

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